Fears of a surge in far-right extremism have led officials in Dresden to pass a resolution aimed at strengthening democracy and protecting minorities.
City counselors passed a resolution on Wednesday night with the headline 'Nazi crisis?' which warned that anti-democratic and extremist views and even violence were becoming increasingly apparent.
Dresden is home to the anti-migrant group PEGIDA and is a stronghold for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which received more than 17% of the vote in city council elections this year.
The motion, which was passed Wednesday, was supported by members of the Left Party, the environmentalist Greens, the center-left Social Democrats, the pro-business Free Democrats and left-wing satirical party 'Die Party, which translates simply as 'The Party'.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right Christian Democrats voted against the motion.
'We have a Nazi problem in Dresden and have to do something about it,' said Max Aschenbach, a councillor for Die Partei who initiated the measure.
In the approved policy statement, councilors noted that right-wing ideology and violent acts were on the rise in the city.
The statement noted that 'anti-democratic, anti-pluralist, misanthropic and right-wing extremist attitudes and actions, including violence in Dresden, are occurring with increasing frequency.'
Lying in the eastern state of Saxony, Dresden has long been known as a bastion for the far-right and has seen some of the largest gatherings of neo-Nazis since the Second World War.
Annual right-wing marches were started in the city from the late 90s before peaking in 2009 with about 6,500 participants.
Nearby Chemnitz erupted with anti-migrant protests in 2018 after a fight broke out resulting in the death of a Cuban-German man. Two Kurdish immigrants, one Iraqi and one Syrian, were named as suspects.
The incident ignited mass far-right protests demanding stricter immigration policy.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
